TakePart Post - Hunt's Ketchup Drops High Fructose Corn Syrup

By Megan Bedard
May 18, 2010

Ladies and gents, the ingredient pariah of the week is…high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). With consumer awareness on the rise, demand for fructose-free products is climbing. This week, Hunt’s ditched the increasingly unpopular ingredient and is now sticking to the basics: tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, salt and other seasonings.

http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/05/18/hunts-ketchup-drops-high-fructose-corn-syrup

NY Times Recipe - Spinach and Tomato Soup With Rice

By Martha Rose Shulman
May 17, 2010

You may think of winter as the time of year for soups, but I’m inspired to make them now, in springtime, because there are so many fresh vegetables coming into the farmers’ markets. Soups make a great destination for produce of all kinds, and they can be ideal repositories for any leftovers just beginning to wilt. There’s plenty of nutritional value left in those vegetables, and gentle simmering will coax out the flavors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/health/nutrition/19recipehealth.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Washington Post Article - Meatless Mondays, a movement that has legs

By Jane Black
May 19, 2010

It's probably no surprise that Sir Paul McCartney, a longtime vegetarian, banned all meat from staff meals on his current world tour. But when Mario Batali starts to push people to eat their vegetables, you know something is happening.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/18/AR2010051800891.html

Atlantic Article - The White House Obesity Report: An Overview

By Marion Nestle
May 15, 2010

This report, "Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within A Generation," is a terrific summary of where we stand today on childhood obesity ("the challenge we face") and what to do about it. (Click here for a PDF.) The report wants to reduce rates of child obesity to where they were before all this started:

That means returning to a childhood obesity rate of just 5% by 2030. Achieving this goal will require "bending the curve" fairly quickly, so that by 2015, there will be a 2.5% reduction in each of the current rates of overweight and obese children, and by 2020, a 5% reduction.

This seems so modest that it might actually be achievable.

Like most such plans, this one has way too many recommendations, in this case, 70 (the summary table starts on page 89). These are divided up in categories. For example...

Read on here.

Civil Eats Post - Drawing Distinction Between Family Farms and Factory Farms

By Alicia Harvie
May 13th, 2010

We get asked frequently at Farm Aid what a family farmer really is, how to spot a factory farm, or if someone can be both a family farmer and run a factory farm. We also receive questions from farmers themselves who want to know if we consider them a family farm or a factory farm. You name it — we’re asked it.

http://civileats.com/2010/05/13/family-farms-and-factory-farms/

TakePart Post - Taco Bell Hits New Low With Two-Dollar Menu

Megan Bedard
May 15, 2010

Taco Bell has hit an all-time low. The faux-Mexican restaurant that famously introduced "The Fourth Meal" announced today it will be releasing a cheaper-than-ever "Meal Deal": for just two bucks, customers can scarf down a medium soda, bag of Doritos, and their choice from four taco and burrito entrées.

http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/05/14/taco-bell-hits-new-low-with-two-dollar-menu

NY Times Article - Diet and Exercise to the Extremes

By Mark Bittman
May 12, 2010

The ultramarathoner Scott Jurek needs 5,000 to 8,000 calories a day to fuel his running regimen, and he gets them without consuming animal products.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/sports/13runner.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Mother Jones Article - Which Veggie Burgers Were Made With a Neurotoxin?

By Kiera Butler
April 12, 2010

A recent investigation by the Cornucopia Institute, a food and agriculture nonprofit, found that most non-organic veggie burgers currently on the market are made with the chemical hexane, an EPA-registered air pollutant and neurotoxin.

See full article, including list of veggie burger brands that contain hexane, here.

Readers' questions about veggie burgers and hexane are answered here.

CNN Article - Romaine lettuce recall expands

By the CNN Wire Staff
May 11, 2010

More romaine lettuce has been recalled amid an investigation into an outbreak of food-borne illness that has sickened at least 19 people in three states. [...] Consumers are urged not to eat "grab and go" salads sold from in-store salad bars and delis at Kroger, Giant Eagle, and Marsh stores.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/11/lettuce.recall/index.html

LA Times Article - Poultry safety standards tightened

By Andrew Zajac
May 11, 2010

The Agriculture Department unveils new rules meant to reduce cases of campylobacter infection and salmonella poisoning.

Poultry processing plants will have to reduce the number of chicken and turkey carcasses that test positive for the toxic bacteria salmonella and campylobacter under new federal rules intended to prevent tens of thousands of food-borne illnesses each year.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-salmonella-20100511,0,143840.story